Ione Huber Takes Stand in Famalaro Trial

SANTA ANA — With the man accused of killing her daughter sitting less than 10 feet away, a composed Ione Huber took the witness stand Monday and tried to look murder suspect John J. Famalaro in the eye.

But Famalaro stared straight ahead, never glancing at the mother of Denise Huber, the 23-year-old Newport Beach woman whose bludgeoned body was found in a freezer at his home three years after she disappeared.

“Today was the first time I saw his face,” Ione Huber said outside the courtroom. “I was mentally prepared for it.”

During a dramatic morning court session, the victim’s parents were continually comforted by family and friends, including Costa Mesa Police Chief David L. Snowden, during particularly graphic portions of testimony.

Ione Huber wiped away tears and closed her eyes when a law enforcement officer knelt on the courtroom floor to demonstrate the fetal position in which Denise Huber’s handcuffed body was found.

The victim’s family also grew visibly tense when the officer put on a pair of white plastic gloves and from brown wrapping paper slowly withdrew a roofer’s nail puller, which the prosecution contends Famalaro used to crush Denise Huber’s skull.

“This brings back some of the horror of what happened,” Ione Huber said. “It’s very, very difficult. I knew there were going to be some tough things to deal with. But we have to get through this.”

Dennis Huber, 57, hunched forward and clasped his hands tightly as his wife testified about their daughter’s clothing, purse, wallet and credit cards, which police found in Famalaro’s Arizona home in July 1994.

The father later said he struggled with being in the courtroom with Famalaro for the first time.

“I just can’t believe that he would do this to another human being,” he said. “Everything about this is strange and bizarre.”

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On the stand, Ione Huber was asked about her daughter’s clothing and about a pair of black pumps with the leather stripped off the back. The mother said her daughter owned such a pair of shoes but they were not damaged.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher Evans contends that the backs of the shoes were scraped off when Famalaro dragged Huber. She had pulled to the side of the Costa Mesa Freeway with a flat tire while on her way home from a rock concert on June 3, 1991.

The UC Irvine graduate had been missing for three years when her body was discovered in a locked freezer stored in a Ryder rental truck parked in front of Famalaro’s Arizona home.

In addition to first-degree murder, Famalaro, 39, is charged with kidnapping and sexually assaulting Huber, which makes him eligible for the death penalty if convicted. His attorneys are expected to focus on trying to disprove the kidnapping and sexual assault allegations when they begin presenting their defense, possibly later this week.

On the second day of trial Monday, prosecutor Evans called two forensic scientists from the Orange County crime lab to the stand to testify about blood matching Huber’s found in a Laguna Hills warehouse where Famalaro was living and where the prosecution says she was killed.

The same type of blood also was found on a nail puller, a hammer and other items recovered from Famalaro’s Arizona home.

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Forensic scientist Mary Hong testified that blood samples on many of the items matched Huber’s blood type and could not have come from Famalaro. But DNA samples taken from the victim’s body, she testified, did not show any DNA other than Huber’s.

Deputy Public Defender Leonard Gumlia said outside court that the absence of other DNA bolsters the defense contention that Huber was not sexually assaulted.

Two Yavapai County sheriff’s deputies who helped investigate the case also testified Monday.

Sheriff’s Deputy Joseph DiGiacomo described how he was called to Famalaro’s home to investigate a report that the Ryder truck had been stolen from California. He described how investigators discovered the freezer and opened it thinking it was a drug lab.

Lt. Scott Mascher, who helped search Famalaro’s home, recalled cutting open the plastic bags that the body was stored in. He demonstrated for the jury the position of the body and spoke of decomposing flesh.

Mascher said blood-stained cardboard boxes marked “Christmas” contained Huber’s belongings and the alleged murder weapons. One box also contained a pair of blood-stained jeans in Famalaro’s size and a bloodied sweatshirt.

Found in the home were keys to the pair of handcuffs that were still on Huber’s wrists, Mascher testified.

Parts of the lieutenant’s testimony caused Ione Huber to weep silently as she sat with her husband and son, Jeff.

Police Chief Snowden, sitting behind her, reached to comfort her during this and other difficult parts of Mascher’s testimony.

Snowden, suffering from pneumonia, said he was there to support the Hubers.

“When you’ve become as close to a family as I’ve become to these people, it’s tough not to be here,” Snowden said. “I think they are wonderful people and I think they are very strong. I admire them a great deal.”

Other evidence discussed included newspaper articles and a videotape of a television report about the desperate three-year search by the Hubers, all found in Famalaro’s home.

“He’s an evil man,” Ione Huber said. “I don’t know how he could live with himself.”

The Huber’s said their grief never ends.

“Yesterday was Mother’s Day, and it was painful not to have her here,” Ione Huber said. “I’m sure we’ll never get over it.”

Added Dennis Huber: “Time has not healed any of it. The wounds are just as deep. Your heart breaks because you think about her every day. There’s no such thing as closure.”